Often times an objective of a marketing strategy could be to develop a slogan for a product or service. The tactics to do this aren’t always easy. Below are helpful tips that can assist in creating a slogan that sticks in the minds of your audience and strengthens your brand.
Brainstorm a list of words
Write down words that are associated with your product, who it helps, what it does and the end benefit. Think about what are your product’s unique differentiators and benefits. Choose the initial benefits you hope to get across and begin with that as a jumping off point. The more ideas the better, you can always edit them down. Essentially, why would someone want to buy your product or service?
Use simple language
Slogans are designed to appeal to the largest possible audience. Because of this, they need to be short enough to remember and use simple language that anyone can understand.
When you’re writing a slogan for your product, pretend that it’s going to be read by 10-year-olds. The language should be simple enough to be understood by someone of any educational level, but descriptive enough to sell your product.
Keep it short
Brevity is key; some would say a slogan should be 10 words or less. It should be long enough to be memorable, relate to your product and reach an emotional connection in the consumer’s mind. The most effective advertising slogans have never included more words than they needed to. Great slogans aren’t meant to explain your product or service, but simply remind people that it’s available.
Make it rhyme (if at all possible)
You want to make sure your slogan sticks in your audience’s mind. Give it that little extra something that makes it catchy and recall is easier when there is something lyrical or distinctive. This is why rhymes and acronyms make such useful reminders when we’re faced with the task of committing something to memory. Of course, I am not saying say that all slogans must rhyme to be memorable. They certainly can, but don’t get caught up in forcing things to rhyme if it isn’t natural.
Be consistent
There’s more to a great slogan than just shortness and simplicity. For a slogan to make the most impact, it needs to make your target audience remember the right aspects of your brand.
When you’re writing a slogan for your business or product, it’s capturing your brand in just a few words and being consistent with the rest of your image.
Stress your values
Every great slogan stresses the values of its company. “Just do it” is a wonderful slogan, and it’s ideal precisely because it has almost nothing to do with what Nike sells. Nike sells shoes, but its slogan doesn’t sell any of its shoes’ features – it sells the excitement of achieving sporting excellence in Nike shoes.
Advertising slogans don’t just sell products, they also sell cultures. When you’re writing a slogan for your company, think about how you can convey your culture whether you are stressing excellence or creativity in only a few words.
Make Them Feel Good
Many of the most memorable slogans are the ones that make people smile or otherwise feel good about something. That’s really the goal of the slogan, isn’t it? You want someone to be able to remember it and attribute your brand with feeling good. Some marketers call this the “warm and fuzzy effect”.
Below are some of the many slogans that came to mind or I read about while creating this blog:
- Nike: Just do it
- McDonalds: I’m lovin’ it
- M&Ms: Melts in your mouth, not in your hand
- Subway: Eat fresh
- Taco Bell: Think outside the bun
- BMW: The ultimate driving machine
- American Express: Don’t leave home without it
- Federal Express: When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight
- Lay’s: Betcha can’t eat just one
- Las Vegas: What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas
- Mastercard: For everything else, there’s MasterCard
- Mazda: Zoom! Zoom!
- Staples: That Was Easy
The tips shared in this blog make it sound easier than it really is to create a successful and memorable slogan. But if you start with some of the recommendations above you will be well on your way to creating a great slogan for your company’s product or service. But also remember that slogans can be created by accident. You have gone through all the steps and you have written the slogan that you think is perfect. Then you start going though the development process and someone says or does something and all of the sudden it catches on. There are so many variables, you don’t know where you slogan may come from. Keep an open mind and let the creativity flow!!